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Cox firing

On Saturday October 20, 1973, independent special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox issued a subpoena asking for tapes of the Oval Office conversations secretly recorded by President Richard Nixon, and the President ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson resigned instead, and the President ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox, but Ruckelshaus also resigned. Finally Nixon convinced Solicitor General Robert Bork, as acting head of the Justice Department, to fire Cox, and Bork complied. This had an impact upon the Congress's bills of impeachment against Nixon.

Supreme Court Nomination

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, but his confirmation did not pass Senate vote when a coalition led by Ted Kennedy led a misinformation campaign against him. 52 out of 54 Democrats voted against him[2] after a highly partisan confirmation hearing that was such a farce that it inspired a new verb, "borked", to mean an orchestrated campaign of distortions and vilification to defeat someone for political motivation.

Bork was best known as a legal expert who has advocated a judicial philosophy called originalism. Bork has authored many best-selling books, and served on the advisory board of the American Civil Rights Union.